The Grip - Roy Lichtenstein
Archival giclée
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Description
A bold 1962 screenprint by Roy Lichtenstein, featuring a hand gripping a tool in the artist's signature graphic Pop Art style.
Roy Lichtenstein, a central figure in the American Pop Art movement, produced this work in 1962. The image depicts a hand clutching a metal object, rendered with the stark, high-contrast aesthetic that defined his career. By adopting the visual language of commercial printing, specifically the Ben-Day dot technique and bold, simplified outlines, Lichtenstein removed the subjective touch of the artist. This approach forced a re-evaluation of how mass-produced imagery functions within a fine art context.
The composition is intentionally flat, stripping away traditional notions of depth or perspective. The red and white colour scheme creates an immediate visual impact, drawing the eye to the mechanical nature of the grip. Lichtenstein often sourced his imagery from comic books, advertisements, and industrial catalogues, isolating mundane objects to examine their form and cultural ubiquity. In this instance, the focus on the hand and the tool creates a sense of tension, though the lack of narrative context leaves the viewer to interpret the action independently.
This print reflects the artist's interest in the intersection of high art and low culture. By elevating a utilitarian subject to the status of a gallery piece, Lichtenstein questioned the boundaries of artistic value. The work remains a clear example of his ability to transform everyday visual information into a structured, iconic image. The clean lines and limited palette ensure that the focus remains on the graphic quality of the subject matter, rather than any emotional or psychological depth. It is a direct, unadorned exploration of form, line, and colour, characteristic of the early 1960s Pop Art period.
Return policy
Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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We ship worldwide, printing at the production hub nearest to your delivery address. Delivery times and costs vary by destination — you'll see the options available to you at checkout.
Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
The Grip - Roy Lichtenstein
Artist Biography
Roy Lichtenstein
He was not young when this happened. He was thirty-eight, teaching art at Rutgers University, and had spent the previous decade painting Abstract Expressionist canvases that looked like everyone else's. The comic paintings were a deliberate rejection of the idea that art had to show the artist's inner emotional state. They showed Donald Duck instead.
Leo Castelli gave him his first show in 1962. Every painting sold before the exhibition opened. The speed was unusual. Warhol was doing similar things with soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles, but Lichtenstein's method was different: he hand-painted everything to look mechanically reproduced. The Ben-Day dots were applied through a stencil. The lines were drawn with a projector and then painted by hand. The process was laborious and precise, which was the joke: meticulous craftsmanship in the service of something that was supposed to look cheap.
He moved beyond comics into landscapes, brushstrokes (paintings of brushstrokes), Chinese landscapes, interiors, and nudes, all in the same flat, graphic style. The Brushstroke series, where he painted enormous images of painterly brushstrokes in the same deadpan comic-book technique, annoyed Abstract Expressionists specifically and delighted everyone else.
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